Prof. Shiobara Kayono, Tokyo Woman's Christian University, Japan

Dr. Shiobara Kayono is a linguist, a Japanese, and a Capricorn. My main interests are in syntax-phonology interface, and leading a sustainable life. I joined the Department of English Literature and Culture in September 2013. My area of expertise is syntax and the interface between syntax and phonology, particularly the impact of sounds on sentence structure and word order. As a researcher in the humanities, my motivation is to gain knowledge. The same is true for linguists. I am interested in understanding humans through language by adopting the thinking method of Generative Grammar Theory to compare various human languages, particularly English and Japanese, and to explore their abstract similarities. I have been based in Japan and Canada and have visited various places for academic conferences and trips.

Assoc. Prof. Junkai Li, Tianjin University, China

Li Junkai, Ph.D. in French Linguistics, is an Associate Professor and MA supervisor at the School of Foreign Languages, Tianjin University. He was a visiting scholar (2017-2018) and associate researcher (2021-2023) at the Centre de recherche sur les médiations (Crem UR3476) at the Université de Lorraine, France. His research focuses on French Linguistics, Phonetics and Phonology, Applied Linguistics, and Contrastive Linguistics. Dr. Li Junkai is author of a French Textbook and a monograph on French interphonology. He has obtained several grants at university level, municipal level and provincial level. He has published more than ten scientific articles in SSCI, A&HCI, SCOPUS or ERIH Plus indexed journals, including Journal of French Languages Studies, Langue française, Lidil, and Synergies Chine. Dr. Li has also presented his work at international conferences throughout the world, such as in Canada (2017), France (2017, 2018), Japan (2017, 2019, 2022), Belgium (2018), Poland (2021), South Korea (2023) and Singapore (2023).